The New York Times reports that Republican candidate John McCain is a “lifelong gambler” whose campaign has ties to that particular industry.
“Mr. McCain takes risks, both on and off the craps table,” writes Joe Becker and Dan Van Natta, Jr. of the Times. “He was throwing dice that night not long after his failed 2000 presidential bid, in which he was skewered by the Republican Party’s evangelical base, opponents of gambling. Mr. McCain was betting at a casino he oversaw as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and he was doing so with the lobbyist who represents that casino, according to three associates of Mr. McCain.”
These associates say that the visit was arranged by Scott Reed, a lobbyist for an Indian tribe called the Mashantucket Pequot. The Pequots have been major contributors to McCain’s various campaigns for public office and are responsible for making Foxwoods the second-largest casino in the world. Also in attendance was Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager.
Becker and Natta write, “Their night of good fortune epitomized not just Mr. McCain’s affection for gambling, but also the close relationship he has built with the gambling industry and its lobbyists during his 25-year career in Congress.”
In his two terms as the Indian Affairs Committee chairman, the Arizona senator has allegedly done more than anyone in turning a relatively small Indian gambling enterprise into an entrepreneurial hegemon, which now controls more than 400 casinos across America. For his part in this transformation, McCain “has won praise as a champion of economic development and self-governance on reservations.” Indeed, gambling expert and University of North Dakota professor Steven Light has referred to him as “one of the founding fathers of Indian gambling.”
“As factions of the ferociously competitive gambling industry have vied for an edge,” write Becker and Natta, “they have found it advantageous to cultivate a relationship with Mr. McCain or hire someone who has one, according to an examination based on more than 70 interviews and thousands of pages of documents.”
The fact that the McCain campaign has more than 40 fund-raisers and close advisers who have lobbied for or been employed by a slew of lottery companies, online poker purveyors, and tribal and Las Vegas casinos appears to contradict the Republican candidate’s claim that he is a maverick who shuns special interests and loathes lobbyists.
I have to jump in on this one. When i saw this story, i knew i HAD to report it, and as fully as possible without trying to appear biased one way or the other. This just shows how blatantly hypocritical and two-faced McCain is. I can't beleive i was ever going to vote for him. As much as i hate Biden, i hope Palin bombs at the debate tonight and McCain is forced to replace her. Of course, if he does, he will have lost for sure.
This is just shocking!
We should string McCain up by his toes and flog him 1/2 to death.
Well, at least we can count on Obama.. sort of.
He has kept gaming out of Illinois for years, but now he is taking their money, and its reported that he enjoys poker and blackjack. Imagine that. He even admires the gaming industry and how it powers the Nevada economy along.
His current stance.. "certainly a potentially moral and social cost to gambling, if it's not properly regulated, if children have access to it." Nevada, he said, could be proud of the way it used gaming as a "very successful economic model."
Obama's past stance..
Obama refused money from gaming, telling National Public Radio, "It is very hard to separate yourself from the interests of the gaming industry if you're receiving money."
and...
"I think that the moral and social cost of gambling, particularly in low-income communities, could be devastating," he was quoted as saying.
Gaming is a 'moral and social' problem and yet he has supported the Illinois State Lottery, betting at horse racetracks, etc.
But maybe it is the money, because Illinois has by far the highest gaming tax in the nation, with a graduated gross tax rate that tops out at 50 percent, and represents $800 million a year in tax revenues . At one point tax rates went as high as 70%, untill casino workers were released and the state felt the un-employment as tax roles declined.
No doubt his excuse to support gaming would be jobs at this point.
As one individual is famous for on this site.
pot, kettle, black.
err can we say that with a black candidate in the running?
Lets face it his associations, affiliations and actions speak louder than words...
I must agree with Mr McEnulty that the only change in last night's bill was to add a significant amount of pork. I am not sure it was one hundred billion but it was a lot. what is interesting is to note the rather specifically targetted pork that is intended to change a couple of the no votes. I remain enthralled by the hypocrisy of our Congress and Executive branches of government.
Lets face it his associations, affiliations and actions speak louder than words...
Yeah, they do, don't they? Especially since almost ALL of McCain's advisors are either ex- or current lobbyists for one special interest or another... AND he's been exposed to those special interests for a LOT longer than Obama!
